Why Teachers are Quitting

Many leaders are familiar with the maxim that “our employees are our most valuable asset” and many of their organizations have made public statements to that effect. This has actually become a kind of tongue-in-cheek platitude that leaders are expected to say but they feel no one should actually take seriously.

I’m wondering why? Why do they not expect that statement to be taken seriously? Why do people not hold them to that expectation? And what would it look like if they believed that statement?

Leaders have developed a twisted sense of what it means to value things. Sometimes they convince themselves that the way to show how much they value employees is by ensuring high profits for the company. Other times, they are convinced that employees’ view of being valued is to get whatever is on their wish list and be unsupervisable.

My suggestion is that neither of these is accurate. It is more than reasonable to assume people value nothing quite so much as they do their children and very few people parent in either of these constructs. I’m not suggesting that managers become paternalistic in the employee relationship, but parenting proves that we can deeply value a person without just giving them everything they want and that our value can be shown through more than simple profits and stability of organization.

Showing employees that they are valued means engaging with them, giving them agency in the organization, taking their desires for self growth into consideration, and respecting their views even when they disagree with leadership. None of these things means paying them an unsustainable wage, or acquiescing to every demand. Respecting voice means listening in earnest and seeking to understand when there are differences.

Right now, teachers (and many other front line workers) are leaving the field because they have been told they are essential to the success of the organization, the field, and the pandemic response but they do not feel valued. These organizations discard their concerns about safety, their needs for their own mental health, and they fail to recognize that these workers are caring for others under extreme circumstances and they still have loved ones at home that they are caring for.

Treating employees as the most valued asset an organization has certainly means giving them a wage that illustrates that value, but more than that, it means giving them a seat at the table and a say in making decisions that shape their lives and well-being.

If you believe that your organization’s employees are its most valuable asset, ask yourself what the organization does to illustrate that value. If the best you can come up with is an “appreciation day,” a pizza party, or casual day, you probably already know there is a gap between the organization’s stated values and its values in action. Do the difficult thing and bring some critics to the table, tell them you appreciate the work that they do and what it takes to do it and you want to talk about ideas to bring your stated values and values in action into alignment. It won’t be an easy conversation but it will reward you in the long run. Oh, and don’t forget to follow up on what is discussed… please don’t invite them in for a conversation if you are not going to do anything with the results!

Communication — the human connection — is the key to personal and career success.

– Paul J. Meyer